Wikis 101






FREE ad-free wikis from wikispaces are available from wikispaces for teachers.

Of course, ALL the students have heard of wikipedia and is a good starting point for describing to students how to use a wiki.




What is a wiki?




Wikis are easily editable webpages that have some very powerful features to it - in particular to permit collaborative content between many contributors.

Potential Uses for Wikis




  • class notes (using "class scribes")
  • basic class information
  • sharing student work - creative writing, information, etc.
  • collaborative sharing - discussion tab
  • distance collaboration
  • online portfolio
  • continuing mystery stories....

Basic Wiki Editing




  • with two square brackets toc two square brackets = table of contents
  • - use headers to make table of contents
  • mostly wysiwyg (what you see is what you get)
  • embed video from youtube, google videos
  • embed images
  • (tip - stay away from tables - a little awkward)

Wiki Project:




The following are examples of student work and a teacher's CV-style portfolio

Glengarrypedia - Gr. 9 LCC English novel project - author said it was the best thing to happen in association with his novel

The Flat Classroom Project - Award-winning wiki project between Westwood School in Camilla GA and Dhaka International School in Bangladesh - even Thomas Friedman, author of "The World is Flat" was involved!

Julie Lindsay's Online Portfolio - Online CV using wikis


Additional Resources -




Video presentation by Vicki Davis - Wiki Collaboration Across the Curriculum - excellent presentation, overview and explanation of how wikis work! (K-12 Online Conference Presentation, October 2006)


Educational Wikis - Articles and Resources